DRTV Is More Than Just Getting Them To Call --
You've Still Got To Make The Sale!

Imagine a continuum going from order takers on one end, to sales agents on the other, with every combination in-between.  This is a way to understand the landscape of Direct Response Telemarketing agencies.

Add to that continuum IVR -  Integrated Voice Recognition, a newer technology being offered in the last 3 years replacing order takers with computer generated digital voice files for one-fourth the price.

And to make things even more complex, overseas live agents (with more or less of an accent) have also been taking Direct Response calls with great success at about half the domestic live agent price.

With all these choices, how do you decide whom to use?  Every marketer has to start out understanding the most wanted response of their campaign.  How complex is the sales process?  What is the cost of the main item being sold and how easy or complex will up-selling be?  Actually, these things should be determined before the production process as they will have an impact on the type of DRTV campaign utilized.

Answering these questions will also help you narrow down the field of telemarketing agencies most appropriate for your campaign.  Every telemarketer will pitch their services with great case studies, glowing profits, fantastic conversion from calls to orders, stronger upsell conversions than their competitors.  Once you’ve heard the pitch one or two times it is not surprising how alike they all are.

But this decision is one of the most critical decisions you will make for your campaign.  It needs more than someone just telling you about an agency that had success.  The nuances of your campaign demand that you choose your telemarketer with great care. At the end of this summary, you will have an opportunity to get a list of the most successful telemarketers in our industry.  But even that is not enough.  You must understand the success metrics of your campaign and which of the telemarketers specialize in the kind of campaign you are working on.

What kind of offer will you have?

• Soft offer
• Free Trial
• $19.95 short form DRTV spots
• $ 59.95 Infomercial
• Free Trial with S&H

Will your upsells include:

• Continuity (auto-ship)
• More complex versions of the main product being offered (SUPER SIZE ME!)
• Products that relate to your main offer but also need some explanation

Who is your audience?

• Are they older?
• Are they male or female?
• How complicated is the product?
• Will people call with questions?
• Will they need instructions?
• Are there many variations of the product which have to be chosen?

All of these issues are going to impact your choice of telemarketers.  Then, after all of that, there is the training before your campaign begins and the managing of the telemarketing agency on a weekly basis.

You’ll meet the sales people of the company, not the Account Managers that you will work with every day. continued below...
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